500,000 Somalis dead from famine
fall of 1992 and hundreds of thousands more in danger of dying.

Clan violence in Somalia interfered with international
famine relief efforts, and President Bush sent American troops to protect relief workers in a new operation called Restore
Hope. The U.S.-led coalition approved by the Security Council in December 1992 had a mandate of protecting humanitarian operations
and creating a secure environment for eventual political reconciliation. At the same time, it had the authority to use all
necessary means, including military force. A joint and multinational operation, Restore Hope--called UNITAF (unified task
force)--was a U.S.-led, UN-sanctioned operation that included protection of humanitarian assistance and other peace-enforcement
operations.

During the operation, two U.S. MH-60 helicopters were shot down by rocket propelled grenades (RPG), and three others were damaged. Some of the soldiers
were able to evacuate wounded back to the compound, but others were trapped at the crash sites and cut off. An urban battle
ensued throughout the night.

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Early the next morning, a joint task force was sent to rescue the trapped
troops. It contained soldiers from Pakistan, Malaysia, and U.S. soldiers of the 10th Mountain
Division. They assembled some 60 vehicles, including Pakistani
tanks, Malaysian Condor armored
personnel carriers, and were supported by US A/MH-6
Little Bird and MH-60 helicopters. This task force reached the first
crash site and led the trapped soldiers out. The second crash site was overrun; the lone surviving American was taken prisoner,
but later released.

Elite units of the U.S. Army's Rangers and Delta Force were
ambushed by Somali men, women, and children armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. The Rangers were pinned
down in the most dangerous part of Mogadishu, Somalia and taking casualties. What had started out as an operation to capture
warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid—turned into a tragic firefight that lasted 17 hours

A squadron of US Army Special Forces,
Army Rangers, 10th Mountain Division, US Navy SEALs, and Marines executed an operation that involved traveling from their
compound on the outskirts of the city to capture leaders of Aidid's militia. The assault force was composed of nineteen aircraft,
twelve vehicles and 160 men.

Figures are unknown, but American estimates are that approximately
1000 Somali militiamen and civilians lost their lives in the battle, with injuries to another 3000-4000. More definitely,
18 American soldiers died, and 73 were wounded (another American soldier was killed in a mortar attack a day later). One Malaysian
soldier died, and seven were wounded; two Pakistanis were also wounded.

Unknown - Due to lack of record
keeping. Often estimated around 1,000 killed, with a few thousand more wounded or missing and presumed dead. There are numerous
accounts of local hospitals and clinics completely overwhelmed and flooded with wounded and dead for weeks after the battle
had ended. But due to the almost complete lack of any official tally or records, the numbers will almost certainly remain
unknown.